Phaseolus vulgaris (Common Bean):
Miracle Plant and Food
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by Hillie Salo
Master Gardener & Founder, Silicon Valley Grows, Silicon Valley, CA, USA
Phaseolus vulgaris
, the common bean, grown everywhere except Antarctica, offers great nutritional benefit, whether eaten green or cooked from dried beans. Beans provide protein, fiber, folate, iron, potassium and magnesium, while containing little or no total fat, trans-fat, sodium or cholesterol. Beans have an exceptionally low glycemic index. They moderate blood sugar, not just at the meal we eat, but even hours later or the next day. Dietary Guidelines recommend consuming 3 cups of beans per week to take advantage of potential health benefits including reductions in heart disease, obesity and many types of cancers.(1)
To bring us these remarkable benefits, beans have made an incredible journey. In 2012, an important genetic study found P. vulgaris originated in Mesoamerica, suggesting Mexico some 8000 years ago. Spreading south, she traveled with her earlier originating sisters, maize and squash, into Ecuador and Columbia then onto southern Peru and the Andes. In the Andes, a severe bottleneck occurred reducing the genetic diversity of P. vulgaris before domestication. Sometime later, domestication came about separately in the Andes and Mesoamerica, establishing two independent gene pools. In general, Mesoamerican seeds are smaller with one type of seed protein and the Andean seeds are larger with a different kind of protein.(2)
What is the importance of identifying the origin of P. vulgaris? Landraces from the origin have the greatest genetic variability and potential breeding opportunities in the future. A landrace is considered a
cultivated plant with historical origin and distinct identity, that lacks formal crop improvement, and is often genetically diverse and locally adapted.
Traditional landraces and crop wild relatives are both used as genetic resources to improve modern crops.
The original P. vulgaris plant was so adaptable as to become part of such climate extremes as the tropical lowlands of Mesoamerica to the Andean highlands.
(3)
The largest changes exhibited by cultivated beans from their wild ancestors is in their uniformity and consistency. From years of selection, seeds are bigger and less likely to shatter than wild forms
making them easier to harvest
.
(4)
Today only a small part of the
40,000 or so bean varieties found in the world's gene banks are grown for mass consumption.
Worldwide, the principal products are dry beans (seeds harvested at complete maturity), shell beans (seeds harvested at physiological maturity, i.e. before the desiccation associated with complete maturity sets in), and green or snap beans (pods harvested before the seed development phase).
P. vulgaris
is part of the legume family, Fabaceae. This family has the ability to fix nitrogen; the ability to pluck an inaccessible form of nitrogen out of the air and create valuable nitrogen compounds accessible to the plant.
Nitrogen
is instrumental in photosynthesis and is also a major component of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.
The nitrogen fixation process is carried out by symbiotic bacteria called rhizobia that live in nodules on the roots of the plants exchanging nitrogen compounds for carbohydrates and sugars.
Although atmospheric nitrogen (N2), comprises nearly 80% of the air, it is not readily available to plants as food.
Today, an a
rtificial
nitrogen fixation
process requiring
high energy and pressure inputs
,
known as the
Haber-Bosch process
, is responsible for
much of agriculture with the development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.
Unfortunately, this process has also led to farm runoff from heavy use of fixed industrial nitrogen that disrupt biological habitats.(5)
The common bean is easy to grow and save. Beans like warm weather and germinate best in soils above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. All varieties of bean seeds should be planted one inch deep. Bush beans should be planted 2 to 4 inches apart in rows at least 18 to 24 inches apart. Pole beans should be planted 4 to 6 between rows.
Beans have sensitive roots and prefer to be direct seeded. Plant every two to four weeks for a continuous supply into fall.
Beans have a shallow root system; keep the plants irrigated and cultivate shallowly to remove weeds. Pole beans need a trellis and bush beans will also appreciate some support. Pole beans give a continuous harvest throughout the season; whereas bush beans tend to come to harvest all at once. When harvesting snap beans, make sure to harvest often to keep up production.
If you are saving seeds, add 10 ft and/or a row of pollinator attracting flowers between varieties. P. vulgaris is extremely self-pollinating, meaning that the next generation of beans will look like the parent plant even when grown close to other varieties. Though, there is very little concern about cross-pollination with P. vulgaris, growing different varieties close together can be an issue at harvesting. Many varieties have similar looking seeds and thus may be difficult to separate. Even when seeds look different, extra time will have to be spent in separating those varieties.
Let the bean pods dry on the vine when you are ready to save your beans for seed. In the case of inclement weather, cut off or pull up the roots and hang the vines up to dry.
Most of the leaves on the plant will be dead and the beans will rattle in their pods when they are ready for harvest.
Depending on your harvest, big or small, you can take the beans out of the pods by hand or for a larger volume, thresh them in a pillowcase. Let them dry for a couple of weeks more until the seed is very hard; i.e., no indent when bitten. At that point, store them in an airtight container. Mason jars or other glass containers with good sealing lids are good. Store the beans in a cool, dry spot. Be sure to label the jars with the variety name, common name, scientific name, year harvested, location grown and any other relevant notes, including disease and pest resistance, and resilience to severe weather. The dried bean seeds should be grown out within the next 3 to 5 years.
References
(1) Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 Eighth Edition
https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/
https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/chapter-2/a-closer-look-at-current-intakes-and-recommended-shifts/#figure-2-4-desc-toggle
(2) Molecular analysis of the parallel domestication of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Elena Bitocchi, Roberto Papa +10 authors
(3) Defining and identifying crop landraces. Plant Genet. Villa T. C., Maxted N., Scholten M. A., Ford-Lloyd B. V. (2005). Res. 3 373-384. 10.1079/PGR200591
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/06f5/fdf0c658c19ef037778ab5655d241e9bcc78.pdf
(4) Evolutionary change in agriculture: the past, present and future. Peter H Thrall, James D Bever, and Jeremy J Burdon https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352499/
(5)
From fertiliser to Zyklon B: 100 years of the scientific discovery that brought life and death
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/03/fritz-haber-fertiliser-ammonia-centenary
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Featured Seed Library
Benguet Association of Seed Savers Seed Library
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Location:
Acop, Tublay, Benguet Province, Philippines
Established:
2017
Number of branches: 1
Organizers:
Non-profit / NGO
Our Solutions Ensure Farmers Success
We offer strategies that allow farmers to build economic sustainability and end their dependence on unsustainable practices.
" Through my involvement as a farmer with Global Seed Savers and BASS, I have learned the deep importance of seed saving to my organic farming practice. I am honored to be a part of this organization and share this knowledge with my children, this work has changed my life."
- Cesar Galvey, Organic Farmer and Vice-President of Global Seed Savers Philippines
Demographics:
The Benuget Association of Seed Savers (BASs) is a registered rural farmers association in the Philippines. There are currently 20 active members of this group. All members are small-holder farmers (farming on average less than 1,000 sq meters of land) representing four different Municipalities of Benguet Province. Together they produce organic food and seeds for a community over 40,000 people and represent . All members are certified organic practitioners and have completed over 500 hours of seed saving and sustainable agriculture technical education programs hosted by Global Seed Savers.
Reason for opening a library:
Global Seed Savers is an international non-profit organization committed to building hunger free and healthy communities with access to sustainable farmer produced food and seeds.
We are committed to supporting food security in the Philippines. Through educating and empowering farmers to return to the historical practice of saving seeds they are no longer dependent on purchasing seeds after each planting and forced to use harmful chemicals to grow these seeds. Through our education and training programs Filipino Organic Farmers gain the hands-on skills and knowledge they need to propagate, store, save, and sell their own regionally adapted organic seeds. This empowers farmers to be self-sufficient and ensures that organic seeds are more readily available throughout the Philippines.
In 2015, we launched Seed School in the Philippines and trained 70 organic farmers in the art of Seed Saving. From that 70 10 initial farmers formed what is now the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS). Now with 20 active members producing and sharing a wide diversity of non-chemical locally produced seeds.
Farmers throughout the Philippines have zero access to 100% organic seeds. This forces farmers to purchase synthetic, treated, and non-organic seeds, which threaten environmental sustainability and cause great economic burdens for farmers who have to purchase seeds after each planting.
In May of 2017, Global Seed Savers (Formerly Friends of ENCA Farm), the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS), and the Municipal Agriculture Office of Tublay in Benguet Province launched the first of it's kind collaborative Seed Library. BASS aims to save, replant, and share their own seeds just as their ancestors did, while also benefiting from new, ecologically sound technologies. We know that seed saving is a form of insurance against food insecurity. It is also a concrete way for farmers to counter the loss of food diversity and the environmental destruction that comes with industrial agriculture.
This seed library is a model community initiative that will positively impact the lives of many farmers for years to come.
Words of Wisdom to other seedbrarians: There is no better way to build community and passion around seeds then starting a community/farmer owned and operated seed library. It takes passion and dedication but is worth the work once you see the first seeds shared!!
Successes:
- Trained over 550 farmers in seed saving and sustainable farming practices
- Conducted over 1000 hours of technical training programs for farmers
- Doubled the membership of the Benguet Association of Seed Savers (BASS), a local farmers association.
- Opened the first-of-its-kind Seed Library in Tublay, Benguet Province in the Northern Philippines, stocked with over 30 different varieties of locally produced open-pollinated seeds.
- Helped our farmers save over 10% of their annual family income through local seed access and production.
- Enabled farmers to re-invest this money into their children's education, household improvements, and continued sustainable farm development
Greatest challenge:
We are currently experimenting with proper storage techniques as the Philippines tropical climate of warm and wet present challenges. We are working to build better on farm and entry to seed library quality control standards to ensure viability and storage ability of the seeds.
If you want to learn more about the important work of Global Seed Savers and support these initiatives please visit their June Crowd-Funding Page.
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Featured Seed Saver
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Chase Krug is a high school senior at Linn Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, USA. He is in his second year of the Iowa BIG program, which is an initiative-based high school experience that provides high achievers with experiential learning opportunities. Through Iowa BIG, he is leading a team to cultivate a county-wide seed library lending program. Linn County Seed Exchange is a partnership through Iowa BIG and several area nonprofits and public libraries.
This summer, Chase will intern at the World Vegetable Center in Patancheru, India through the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship program. He plans to study Agronomy at Iowa State University this fall.
How many years have you been saving seeds?
6 years
What inspired you to start saving seeds? Did anyone in your family save seeds that taught you?
Learning about genetic diversity. I learned a lot from my 6th and 8th grade science teachers.
What seeds do you save? Do you feel like you have a seed saving speciality in a particular crop(s)?
Mainly vegetables and ornamentals, especially: irises, dahlias, beans, corn, potatoes, peanuts, and chickpeas
Beans are my favorite to seed.
What do you love most about seed saving? Do you have a seed saving philosophy?
My favorite part is the process. I am not strict on cross pollination; something new can come of it.
What question(s) are you most asked by other seed savers?
Why do you grow so many beans? (Chase saves about 40 bean varieties/year.)
What single piece of advice would you give a new seed saver?
Start with what is easiest to learn and go from there. Take your time!
Are you doing any active seed breeding? If so, which seeds?
Not this year, but I have done potatoes and corn in the past, as well as ornamentals like amaryllis and irises.
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Working with Youth and Seeds
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By Sara McCamant
Garden and Youth Program Manager at Ceres Community Project, Sonoma County, CA, USA
I have a deep belief that all of us have some cellular memory of working with seeds.
We all had someone in our genetic history who winnowed, threshed, and dipped their hands into a basket or bowl full of seeds. When we work with seed, a connection with our ancient or modern ancestors is activated.
So when I work with youth and seed saving, I trust that is what will get them excited and will engage them.
A lecture on cross pollination distances or population size produces yawns, but when they put their hands in a bowl of seeds, the lights come on. The lights come on when they winnow and sift out chaff and in awe see the real seeds emerge.
Working with youth in gardens is what I do every day with my job at the Ceres Community Project and I have realized that most of the time I just want them to have the amazing experience of watching a plant emerge and grow. That in of itself will plant a seed that will perhaps sprout as they get older and start thinking about their own food and where it comes from.
I approach seed saving the same way, we grow plants for seed at the Ceres garden and I bring the seed from the Community Seed Exchange garden over for the youth to process but there is not much teaching or explaining, there is just the joy of working with seed. And I have seen it over and over, young people love working with seed.
If you are a teacher, there are so many ways you can insert seed into your curriculum. Whether it is math or social studies, seed can be part of that. But if we want to create the next generation of seed savers than perhaps all we need to do is give our youth a bowl of seeds to clean.
A resource for people working with younger kids was put out by the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center -
A Handful of Seeds.
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News from the Field
Tips from Seed Libraries
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How do you inspire youth?
- All 8th Graders at our middle school complete a seed-saving unit in the winter. They clean seeds saved throughout the growing season, design packets with their own botanical drawings, research and include growing instructions on the back of the packet. (See image below.) We do the seed-saving unit as part of a communication arts and art integration with the garden. Students read the novel Seedfolks (this will change next year because they are actually reading it in 6th grade now instead, we are looking for replacement literature, possibly some chapters from The Seed Underground, would love any selections you have.) The art/garden integration lasts at least a week. Students receive a lesson on why seed-saving is important, what elements are important to include on a seed packet, then create a botanical drawing of an assigned plant, research growing culture and interesting facts about the plant to include on the packet as a tiny research project and technical-writing exercise. They clean seeds stored from harvest time, then print labels and package their seeds in manila key envelopes. We offer the seeds at farmers markets in the spring and summer and this year are relaunching our seed library on campus (The collaboration with the public library received very few returned seeds, and though we did continually restock each season, once it was empty, the library put it into storage.) It is a great unit that the 8th grade communication arts teacher and I both love. The teachers loop between 7th and 8th, so next year I will have a new collaborator--I hope she likes it as well! - Melissa, Maplewood, MO, USA
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| Student-designed seed packets in Maplewood_ MO_ USA. |
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Kids love seeds!
Winnower can win a kids interest. |
We have a cool winnower which we demo at our local Farmer's Market and other community events. Kids love to turn the crank and watch the seed come out.
- Sandra, Kamloops, BC, Canada
- We have weekly volunteer help from a group of women (the "Seed Sisters" mostly from the Master Gardener Program) who do the seed packaging and filing. We occasionally invite groups of kids from the local high school who are in the school gardening program to come help us. - Diana, Kailua-Kona Public Library, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA
- These kid-designed seed packets were donated to the Cesar Chavez Seed Library, Oakland, CA, USA.
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The SeedLibraries.org social network is CLOSED.
The URL will eventually point to
SeedLibraries.net, which is where the resources on how to open and maintain a library are hosted. Although there were lots of members on the social network, there were not a lot of discussions going and it was an expensive service. You can still stay connected to the community by:
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Community Seed Network
A New Way to Connect
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The Community Seed Network launched, with social media a'buzz, on May 22nd - World Biodiversity Day. Since then the site has become home to over 160 community seed initiatives (and counting!), from Halifax, Nova Scotia to San Diego, California, and from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to St. Petersburg, Florida! A quick browse of the site's map shows seeds swaps, backyard gardening groups, seed banks, and so many seed libraries! Dozens of people and organizations have identified themselves as potential mentors to those who may have questions about how to save seed or how to start their own seed initiative. You can easily identify these folks by searching the map for mentors.
The site's map is a great place to start exploring community seed initiatives near you, and across the continent. You can "sign up" from the site's home page and create a profile in just 5 minutes. From there you have options to read, download and use the site's many "how to" resources (on the "learn" pages) check out the seed exchange (on the "share" pages), and even join the
CSN Facebook group. The FB group is a fantastic way for CSN members to have great conversations, share resources and ideas, and post their local events and promotions! Why not sign up today?
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Bookworm
Seedfolks
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Review by Joy Lynn King
Hall Middle School Public Librarian, Larkspur, CA, USA
Just slightly larger than a seed packet, Paul Fleischman's novel
Seedfolks produces the heartwarming story of a diverse community coming together as they transform an ugly, empty lot into a vibrant community garden and gathering place. On a Sunday morning in April young Kim plants six lima beans in a vacant lot in Cleveland as a way to connect to the father she never knew. "I would show him that I could raise plants, as he had. I would show him that I was his daughter."
The story is told through thirteen different narrators, each one a part of the neighborhood and the garden. Each one with his or her own story of immigration and connection to the land. The characters overcome stereotypes and racial bias as they share their stories and work alongside their neighbors in the garden.
First published twenty years ago,
Seedfolks continues to be read and loved by students, adults, and teachers. In addition to being taught in schools, the novel has often been a Community Read or a One Book program in communities. The novel provides a glimpse into the lives of many cultures and the hopes and dreams we have in common.
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Pilot Middle School Science Seed Saving Curriculum
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Are you a middle school science teacher? Do you have a kid in middle school? I am working on a Next Generation Science Standards designed unit covering genetics and pollination for middle school science classroom teachers. Last year I started to do the unit and we partnered with the
Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and students created tutorials and public service announcements for their
Million Seed Savers Campaign.If you are interested in piloting this unit or lessons from this unit, please contact me at
richmondgrows@gmail.com.
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Million Seed Savers Campaign PSA created by a 6th grader as part of Planting Seeds Unit
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Get Involved! Many Hands Make for Light Work
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We need your help. These are things that would make us happy:
- Review the SeedLibraries.net website - we would like to have a few phone meetings to evaluate the website that has helped hundreds of seed libraries open. What about the resources worked for you? What resources would you like improved? What would have better helped you? Please fill in this form so I can organize some chats with folks. Thank you!
- Send us a photo of beans (include your name, bean variety name, organization you are associated with, town, state/province). Email us.
- Submit articles - join our team of volunteers or just submit an article that you think would be helpful. Email us.
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National Seed Librarians Summit
Save the Date - Wed. Sept. 12, 2018
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 We hope you can join us for the 8th Annual Seed Libraries Summit at the
National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa, California, USA on Wednesday, Sept. 12th. The meeting is from 4-6 PM. We are working on getting some seed library related talks on Wednesday before the meeting. Come early to enjoy the Expo. The summit is free with the cost of admittance to the
Expo, which is $15. We meet behind the administration building. Our meeting location is subject to change.
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6 Tips for Summer Weeding
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Reprinted with permission from the
Hudson Valley Seed Company
Formerly called the Hudson Valley Seed Library
In June, all greenery, planned and unplanned, happily takes advantage of summer weather to explode in height, width, and color. Everything grows so fast that after staying away from a garden for a day, it's impossible to return to the exact same place. And so, June marks an important month of weeding - that persistent task that follows gardeners through the length of the growing season. (
Editor's note: Southern hemisphere seedizens, Hudson Valley Seed Company is located in the Northern Hemisphere. We understand that many of you are experiencing winter instead of summer at the moment.)
On our farm, we strive to attain a weeding rhythm, with the key now being to simply "maintain." After all our beds are prepared and planted, we use upright tools on a regular basis to simply maintain weedlessness, getting to all the weeds when they are small before they grow big and become a nuisance. Going through the rows on our feet, equipped with a hoe or a wheel hoe, makes for faster and easier work for us, and in turn, makes growing a faster and easier task for our plants. Now, although weeding is still a part of our everyday schedule, it does not feel like the most exhausting and time-consuming gardening chore.
Aside from quickly occupying any available piece of bare ground and making it harder to harvest (or even see) the veggies, weeds compete with your plants for water, nutrients, and light. Weeds also create habitats for bugs and critters, causing potential pest problems and increasing the chance of disease. To avoid these problems, we've put together a few suggestions for efficient and successful weeding:
1. Relax, and stay on top of weeds. Weed by hand first, then maintain with tools. The former can be done in any weather, the latter only on a dry day. Find the right rhythm for you and your garden: perhaps spending 10 minutes weeding every day is all that you need in order to maintain clean rows of happy vegetables. Don't forget to relax too - weeding is a meditative process ...... If you go on vacation, you'll come back to hand weeding and that's okay. It's even okay to have a few weeds here and there, as long as they aren't hurting your plants. But do try not to let them flower or set seed to prevent them from spreading. If they are faster than you and you run out of time to pull them all, just pinch or chop off the flower heads or seed pods of mature weeds to buy yourself a little time before they bloom again. If you fall behind, pick your battles by prioritizing weeding the plants that seem most stressed by weed pressure.
2. Find the right tools. The plethora of available weeding instruments is easy evidence of the importance of this task in home gardening. On our farm, our most popular weeding tools:
- The wheel hoe - a walk-behind hoe that's great for quick weed eradication in t
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Hori Hori Knife |
he pathways between plants. The double wheel hoe also comes with a spreader bar attachment that allows you to easily cultivate between rows with the double stirrup hoes.
- A small hand hoe for precise weeding close up and between each plant.
- For tall, unruly weeds that aren't directly next to our plants (such as the grass along the fence line), we use a sickle or a scythe to cut them down to the base.
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- Finally, for tough plants that are really stuck in there, you can't beat the hori hori knife. Its serrated blade makes it easy to cut through roots and branches, and the stainless steel blade keeps it rust resistant.
Yard sales are often where great weeding tools hide out. Before purchasing, consider borrowing a new tool from a friendly gardener to see if it's right for you. And, remember to sharpen your tools throughout the season, especially after a few heavy uses. Take a look at the
tools available in
our catalog for weeding inspiration and motivation!
3. Know that weeds love bare soil. Mulching and planting cover crops are two effective ways to cover the soil and reduce uninvited plants. Also, be sure to keep pathways between plants weed-free, otherwise, the weeds will quickly jump from the cramped pathway to the spacious bare soil of your beds. Straw, woodchips and is a great pathway cover
D
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| Crimson Clover |
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uring the summer, we sow any empty beds with
cover crops. Crimson Clover is a beautiful flower that, when sown densely, will crowd out small germinating weeds while fixing loads of nitrogen for crops that follow.
4. Water carefully. When watering from a watering can or a hose, aim the stream only at the plants you want to grow, not the weeds you want to lose.
5. Aerate the soil, but leave the weed seeds. Hoeing a bed to aerate the soil is great for eliminating surface weeds (leave them on the bed surface on a sunny day to quickly dry them out) but be mindful that you are not disturbing more than the top five inches of soil. Weed seeds can hide out in the soil dormant for years, until they are brought close enough to the surface to germinate. Keep them lying where they are by keeping heavy soil disturbance such as tilling to a minimum.
6. Compost or eat them! If the weeds you pull leave the garden, they take many valuable nutrients with them. To keep nutrients in place, compost the weeds and return them to the beds once they turn into rich compost. Just be sure to make sure the weeds haven't gone to seed (or your compost pile is hot enough to kill them) and that there's no quackgrass in the mix. Another exception from the compost pile are edible weeds. Your garden won't suffer if you take a few weeds back to the kitchen. Many of the most common garden weeds are edible and highly nutritious for humans too, not just for soil. Check out the beautiful and comprehensive book
Foraging and Feasting for inspiration!
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Next Issue:
Local & Regional Seed Collectives - August 2018
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Feedback for this Issue? Ideas for Next Issue?
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This Issue: Inspiring Youth
This issue is Inspiring Youth. Do you do other things?
We are looking for ways to support other communities to uplift youth to become seeds savers. We'd love to hear from you.
Next Issue: Local & Regional Seed Collectives
Does your seed library belong to a larger seed collective? Is it local or regional? Let us know. We'd like to know what groups exist. How they got started? What services they provide?
Fill in this survey. Tips on what you do will be included in News from the Field to benefit others.
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Seed Saving Courses
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Seed School Online
Self-paced, online course
$97
Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and Urban Farm
Seed School at Sterling College
August 5-10, 2018
Craftsbury Common, VT, USA
$1,250 (includes meals) Open to Sterling College students and general public
Sterling College and Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance
Seed School Teacher Training for Agricultural Professionals
October 21-26, 2018
Denver, CO, USA
FREE
Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance
Offering a day long seed saving class?
Cool Beans! and our Facebook page.
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National Seed Summit
Sept. 12 , 2018
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Mountain West Seed Summit: Reunion of the Radicles
Feb. 22 - 23, 2019
Santa Fe, NM, USA
Learn More & Register
Come Feb. 21 for the Seed Summit Field Trip!
Offering a day long seed celebration or meeting?
We're happy to share it. Email us.
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650+ Open!
Sister Seed Libraries
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- Have you opened?
- Added branches?
- Created a website?
Check the Sister Libraries List to see if your information is accurate and to find other libraries near you. Fill in this survey to help us keep the list accurate.
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Seed Libraries Association
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- Resources on how to start & manage a seed library
- Sister Seed Libraries pages
- Inspirational projects associated with seed libraries
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"Cool" Fortex Beans. Photo credit Laura Sampson, Victoria, BC, Canada
Do you have a banner bean photo you'd like included?
Email us. Let us know the variety, your name, location, and if you are associated with a seed project.
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Stay Connected
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Anpetu Oihankesni, Remembered
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Reprinted with permission from Seed Savers Exchange
Lifetime member Anpetu Oihankesni of Hotchkiss, Colorado, was among Seed Savers Exchange's most active participants - over 36 years, he contributed nearly 8,000 listings across more than 80 crop types to the Exchange.
In addition to these contributions, Anpetu left an indelible mark on Seed Savers Exchange's Preservation Collection, having made more than 60 donations over the years. Among his donations were the 'Jaune du Doubs' carrot and the 'Petit Gris de Rennes' melon, both available to the public through the organization's seed catalog. His own seed company, Sourcepoint Organic Seeds, offered more than 1,000 heirloom, open-pollinated, and traditional varieties and species from around the world.
Especially interested in Native American seed crops, Anpetu received his name from the Lakota Sioux after several years spent living with the tribe.
Anpetu died on August 1, 2017. His life's work will have a lasting impact on biodiversity.
His longtime friend George Stevens is helping to organize and preserve his collection. If you are interested in helping to preserve this collection, please
email us.
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